School hygiene
Encyclopedia
School hygiene or school hygiene education is a healthcare science
Healthcare science
Healthcare science is the applied science dealing with the application of science, technology, engineering or mathematics to the delivery of healthcare....

, a form of the wider school health education
School health education
School Health Education see also: Health Promotion is the process of transferring health knowledge during a student's school years...

. School hygiene is a study of school environment influence it explores influence of schooling to mental
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...

 and physical health of students.

The primary aims of school hygiene education is to change behavior through useful practices connected to personal, water, food, domestic and public hygiene
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...

. Also, it aims to protect water and food supplies and to safely manage environmental factors.

History of school hygiene

School hygiene expert Fletcher B. Dresslar explained in his 1915 work School Hygiene that “School Hygiene is the branch of this science [hygiene] which has to do with the conservation and development of the health of school children.” The school was looked upon as existing “not only for the welfare of each child in attendance, but also for the welfare of the state and the nation.” Dresslar broke school hygiene up into two essential parts: “the physical environment of the child during his school life” and “the laws of mental hygiene as illustrated by the proper adjustment of the subjects of the curriculum to the mental powers and needs of the children.”

School hygiene as a major discipline was at its zenith in the United States and England in the late 19th and early 20th century, with major works of the subject being offered by various authors, among them Sir Arthur Newsholme, Edward R. Shaw, Robert A. Lyster, and G.G. Groff. After this time period, the school hygiene discipline became part of a comprehensive look at school health education; the American School Hygiene Association
American School Hygiene Association
An outgrowth of the school hygiene movement, the American School Hygiene Association was a professional organization of physicians, dentists, administrators, nurses, and other stakeholders in the health and well-being of school children...

 became inactive, and the American School Health Association
American School Health Association
The American School Health Association is a professional association. It claims a membership of 2,000 members in 56 nations, more than half of whom practice in K-12 schools or administer health education or health services programs in school districts or state departments of education.Founded in...

 was founded. Exclusive focus on hygiene was no longer prominent.

School hygiene still appears to be an active, separate discipline in other parts of the world, like Eastern Europe and developing countries where school sanitation norms are not as well established.

School environment

Schools can determine children's health and well-being by their exposure to a healthy or unhealthy school environment. There are lot of architectural and asthetic aspects related to a school's hygienic needs, such as: school's building plan, safe water supply, disposition of waste, emergency lighting, heating and ventilation, as well as adequate school facilities (halls, classrooms, and common areas) and furniture.

School location

Due to health reasons (influence of noise, exhaust gases from vehicles, and potential risk of accident), schools in a urban and suburban areas should be located more than 100 meters away from major traffic and causeways. Some studies suggest it is best to orientate and design a school building so that natural light
Sunlight
Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total frequency spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, and solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon.When the direct solar radiation is not blocked...

 can be a part of the lighting scheme of the school, and that buildings should avoid being placed in a valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...

, due to air quality issues.

Importance of school hygiene

Schools have a central place in the health of a community. Inappropriate hygiene in schools can cause many diseases. If there are no school sanitation and hygiene facilities, or if they aren't maintained and used adequately, schools become places where diseases are likely transmitted.

See also

  • American School Hygiene Association
    American School Hygiene Association
    An outgrowth of the school hygiene movement, the American School Hygiene Association was a professional organization of physicians, dentists, administrators, nurses, and other stakeholders in the health and well-being of school children...

  • School health education
    School health education
    School Health Education see also: Health Promotion is the process of transferring health knowledge during a student's school years...

  • Public health
    Public health
    Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...

  • Hygiene
    Hygiene
    Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...


Further reading

  • Clarke, Lucy; Maiga, Fatoumata Sokona and Simpson-Hebert, Mayling. (1995). Hygiene education and environmental sanitation in schools in Francophone West Africa : the report of an intercountry workshop to identify problems and options for improvement, EIER, Ouagadougou 19-21 April 1994. Geneva, Switzerland, World Health Organization. (WHO/EOS/94.56).
  • Stojčić, Milena; Milanović, Snežana and Mršulja, Ana. (2009). Radna sveska za higijenu sa zdravstvenim vaspitanjem (Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva) ISBN 978-86-17-16350-9
  • Nikolić, Mihajlo (fourth edition). Higijena sa zdravstvenim vaspitanjem (Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, 1994) ISBN 86-17-02931-5
  • Savičević, Momir. Higijena (Medicinska knjiga, Beograd–Zagreb 1986/87)


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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